[sportking]

Does anyone know how to better the front suspension. Im not looking to lower it ,01 was the last year of air in the front and I have heard that some fl now have different type legs one being gas. Is this true on RK . Also what about valve changes, has anyone upgraded these?

 

[wyodude]

The easiest thing to do is try a different fork oil. The SE stuff workd fine for me. 02 RK 65K+ miles.

 

[PeterV]

02 FLs have a cartridge in one leg. Makes the at home re&re cumbersome without the specialty tools.
Remove the forks and take 'em into the dealer. Most places, 1 day service.
Charge about $75-$90
SE oil is good.

 

[sportking]

Flyer , your sparking my memory. Do you recall which side was the gas , only need to upgrade one side ,correct? I can handle the work myself. I read an article on this sometime back! They gave the part # . Would you kow that?

 

[PeterV]

Checked my manual.
Road King is the only model without a cartridge. Sooo, fork oil change is a snap. Yes, you can do it at home without specialty tools....Lucky guy!
Use the SE (heavier) oil, and change out the stock springs to Progressive Suspension http://www.progressivesuspension.com/springs.html

 

[sportking]

Thanks flyer What im doing is repairing a damaged front end so i have options would it be advisible to get 2 cartridge style's . If i went the original way im considering these valves I believe they call them emulaters along with the progressive springs. I have been seperated from my years of reference books .Thanks for the help

 

[PeterV]

Front end of an RK is considerably lighter than that of an E or RGlide. That's why no cartridge.
I think two would be way too harsh of a ride.
Here's a link for understanding emulators.

http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_9502_tech/

 

[fxrflh]

If your rebuilding and thinking of getting new legs. I'd suggest dumping the cartidge style forks and returning to a set of non-cartidge. The Factory did it, so someone besides me thinks it is worth while.

Cartridge style forks work great on high performance dirt bikes and sport bikes, but the avg street riding cruiser will never push the bike hard enough to gain a lot of performance advantage out of them. Plus, they are a complete pain in the ass to work on compared to the old style. The level of cleanliness required to properly rebuild them is brutal compared to non cartridge style.

A set of Showa non cartdrige fork legs with Progressive suspension fork springs, a set of Gold Race emulators and 20 or 30 wieght Bel Ray fork oil works damn good and is easy to work on , maitain and service as the miles pile up.


I just did this setup on my '89 FLHT this past week and removed the entire anti-dive solinoid / air suspension manifold setup as well. The new Progressive springs, emulators and Bel Ray 30W are a marked improvement over the POS stock air setup.

 

[sportking]

gold valve

FXRFLH thats what im wanting to hear . looked up race tec emulator valve part # fegv 53802 price $159.00 As far as springs go would they be from PROGRESSIVE? I looked at race tech hey give several choices i will call them tommorrow. We are talking about variable wound correct , thanks

 

[fxrflh]

SportKing,

Yes, get the springs for your 'Glide from Progressive.

They will be variable wound. It doesn't matter if you install them tight coils up or down, they will work the same. Just make sure you put them in each fork leg either tight down or tight up. I always run them tight down to keep noise to a minimum and to make sure they doen't rub the dampning tubes.

Also, You'll need to cut your pvc spacer to the reccomended size for your bike. I always cut mine 1/4" longer so that the forks are a little stiffer, but that's just cause I like a firm suspension up front.

Make sure you use the supplied washer between the top of the springs and the spacers to keep the PVC from deforming over time.

Fork oil viscosity wil effect rebound more than it will compression. I like to run 30w on heavy bikes like the FL's to keep the "pogo-ing" effect to the minimum.

If you decide to keep the air suspension, run it at zero to start, the progressive springs don't need air to work. Also, If you do decide to remove the air suspension and the anti dive, make sure you keep al the grounds intact for the circuites that are stiled tied to the system. You may also have to remove a pin jumper in the wiring harness like I did for the front Brake light switch if you remove the soliniod. Good luck !